Fire crews from four different agencies spent more than two hours battling a stubborn commercial office fire near Factoria Wednesday night. The blaze sent a plume of black smoke over the south end of Bellevue and likely caused more than $1 million damage to the office building. See video

The first calls to 911 came in at 5:23 p.m., with reports of black smoke coming from the eaves of the building. Occupants also reported smoke, but no flames, inside the building prior to evacuating. By the time the fire was contained around 8 p.m., at least half of the building was heavily damaged by fire and the water used to extinguish it.

Firefighters began attacking the fire from inside the building, but flames continued to grow and spread throughout the ceiling area and then broke through the roof despite their efforts. Firefighters eventually moved out of the building to avoid the hazard of a collapsing roof.

The building was not equipped with fire sprinklers, likely not required when it was built. Eight businesses, including Topline, Industrial Credit Services, Insurance Svs. Network Inc., Miller Real Estate Group, Captus Solutions, Gary Struthers, CD ADapco and American One Finance, occupy the building, on the 3100 block of Richards Road. There is no estimate on when they can reoccupy the tenable areas.

There is no preliminary cause to report and Bellevue fire investigators did not attempt to enter the building Wednesday night. Fire crews quenched hot spots through the night.

Fourteen fire crews with trucks, including firefighters from Mercer island, Eastside Fire and Rescue, and Kirkland, fought the blaze. Additional staff and aid crews brought the total response to at least 50 firefighters. There were no injuries to fire crews or civilians.